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Innovation is a Process

“Innovation” has become a popular buzz word across private, non-profit, and public organizations. While imaging the many exciting opportunities successful innovation can provide, it is easy for organizations to forget that innovation is a process, not a goal. It is the job of a strong organizational leader (or association manager) to help a group understand this while guiding them to clearly answer the following questions:

Why do you want to innovate?

What exactly do you want to innovate on?

How would you measure the success of your results?

Groups may desire increased process efficiency, better programmatic value for money, or an uptick in membership. They may want to innovate on products, delivery methods, or communication streams. They may care more about the results of quantitative return on investment analyses or qualitative exit surveys. Each of these answers, and countless more, are valid.

No matter what the answers are, if you can lead your organization to carefully consider to answer these questions you will help ensure that resources – time, money, energy, and will – are not spent needlessly on “innovating” for innovation’s sake.

What Makes a Membership Organization Successful?

I was recently asked to speak about the success factors of a successful membership organization. I prepared by reflecting on my own experiences over the last two decades, speaking to other association colleagues and researching the topic. Here are the common attributes of a successful membership organization:

Effective communication. Regularly zero-in on what information it is that members need and want and then provide them with that information — a task facilitated by today’s technology. Listen closely to members through surveys, face to face meetings, social media, online forums, committees or other means to understand their issues, needs and concerns.

Volunteer-driven, but staff managed. Most boards of membership organizations are comprised of volunteers. This group must focus on the horizon, setting that set the long-term vision and strategy and working with staff to make the hard choices. These volunteers must be supported by competent staff that manages the association day-to-day and serves as the face and voice of the group, providing industry leadership.

Clearly articulates return on investment. Good association’s simply run the numbers: For your membership dollars, you will receive this much value, quantified.

Proven value. The value of belonging to an association should not be“because it’s the right thing to do.” Strong associations provide tangible products and services critical to members’ business success — i.e., the value lies with far more than in it “being the right thing to do.”

Clear multiyear vision. Essential are a set of long-term goals and strategies supported by an annual work plan and budget — i.e., key documents that ensure the membership, leadership and staff are all ‘on the same page’ regarding where the association is going and how it will get there.

If those are attributes are key to a successful organization, a VERY successful membership organization also does these things:

Represents the entire membership and the membership trusts they are being represented. We work with associations that have big, small and really small companies as members. They all have different needs and often those larger ones have the means to influence the agenda and service offering. It is important for leadership to focus on the whole of the organization’s members, ensuring that they all have an equal voice and are receiving services specific to their needs. a voice — i.e., size alone does not dictate the dialogue

Leaders of successful organizations put personal agendas aside and focuses on what’s best for whole. Volunteer leadership often brings an agenda, and that’s okay –it drives progress and change. But those changes must be done for the good of the whole, not a few. When I hear an incoming year chair ask, what is my legacy going to be, I worry.

Open and transparent (versus closed-door) governance and decision-making. Obvious, yes but this often replaced with small groups behind closed doors making key decisions. Nothing worse than people asking: How did that decision get made, but whom and why? A successful association provides a spot light to members so they can cast it into the organization’s decision making.

Developing a Five-Year Vision Document

Lighthouse Consulting Group providing facilitation services to two departments at the University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources seeks to develop knowledge and disseminate it through the three academic functions of teaching, research, and outreach education. Lighthouse Consulting Group is working with two departments in this college —Kinesiology and Plant Science and Landscape Architecture—to facilitate a conversation unique to each to improve program integration and develop a five-year vision document.

Lighthouse will bring both its process and facilitation skills to the conversation along with its understanding of Land Grant and Extension programs. We will work with independent project teams from each department to identify the specific issues can concerns that need our focus, then customize a process that will ensure open and transparent dialogue and include a full range of stakeholders. This customized design and delivery process will last through the end of the year and culminate with a series of workshops to socialize the outcomes.

The College is running these processes concurrently because it is a cost-efficient way to have the facilitation team on campus (cost sharing between the departments). Further, it allows the facilitation team to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the overall context and pressure points, which will enhance each department’s strategic plan.